


Things Change

by detectivelion



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Confessions, Dream Eaters, Ignores 2.8 given that this was written before the game released, Introspection, M/M, Sora brooding, Takes place immediately after DDD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 10:46:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11146824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/detectivelion/pseuds/detectivelion
Summary: At the end of it all, he can't always be light and sunshine. Sora, and everyone else, has changed.Cross-posted from tumblr. Prompt: "A Soriku fic where they confess their feelings for each other a few days after the Mark of Mastery Exam."





	Things Change

It’s not going to be a permanent thing, and he knows that.

Lately, nothing is really permanent. His visits to the island are just that—visits. His home in the Tower will be gone once the war is over, he thinks. Riku is no longer his rival, no longer his enemy, and Kairi is no longer his to protect.

But he can have this. For now. This little corner of Traverse Town, where no one comes for fear of Nobodies or the Heartless or the Nightmares that now manage to slip through the cracks between dreams and reality. This, too, is an alteration. Sora’s already reasoned that bringing the Spirits into the real world allowed their counterparts to come in too—but it doesn’t particularly matter to him. No one wanders out of the First District unless they know how to fight. The Heartless, the Nobodies, the Nightmares, he can deal with all of them.

He’s just not sure he can deal with giving this up. It’s not the what but the why that he’s afraid of being asked. Everyone knows he comes out here to visit and train with the Dream Eaters. He’s brought a few to the Tower, to meet Donald and Goofy and Kairi. They don’t know he’s here now, but they may notice his absence soon, and then they’ll wonder.

The longer he stays, the higher the risk runs. But he doesn’t want to leave just yet.

He just can’t bear to be in the Tower right now.

The Meow Wow in his lap rolls over and coos. It gets an answering chitter from the Komory Bat, but the Yoggy Ram pressed up against his side remains fast asleep. Scratching it right at the base of its horns always made it drift off. A rumbling snore leaves its mouth, making Sora huff a quiet laugh.

That’s how Riku inevitably found him, in a small pile of Dream Eaters in front of the fountain of Traverse Town. The lights made his silver hair glow pink.

Sora looks up at him and smiles. He’d relieved that it’s Riku, and not Kairi or the others that had gone to get him. “Did I miss dinner?” He asks. He sort of hopes not. It’s not as good as home-cooked food, but the enchanted brooms follow recipes to the letter and they have yet to let him down.

“Training,” Riku tells him. Short and to the point, but instead of waiting for Sora to stand, he sits down beside him. The bat gives a loving chitter when Riku reaches over to rub its head. “It worries people when you just vanish, you know. Donald and Kairi especially.”

That makes Sora wince. His shoulders hunch, and the Komory Bat digs its nails in deeper to keep its balance.

Riku’s hand lands on his head. “Didn’t mean it like that, Sora,” he soothes. Some of the tension eases.

Sora clears his throat and leans back against the wall of the fountain. Evidently disgruntled by his movements, the Komory Bat gives a brisk flap of its wings to settle on the edge of the wall. The Meow Wow only whines for more attention. “So, how’s training going?” He asks, rubbing the Spirit’s belly. It murmurs appreciatively. “Ax—Lea is getting better at summoning his keyblade, right?”

Riku gives a noise of affirmation. “He’s picking it up pretty well, considering how different this is from his usual fighting style. He’s used to close-range fighting, so it’s a bit difficult to remind him he has extra reach with his keyblade. And Kairi’s doing good too.”

“Yeah?” Sora focuses on the ram at his side. It snuffles in its sleep. Funny, he thinks, how Dream Eaters seem to have dreams of their own. He wonders if they can feed off each other’s slumber, and that’s why he doesn’t really need to feed them.

“Yeah.” Riku reaches over to scratch the Meow-Wow’s ears at well, smiles faintly at its delighted wriggling. “Donald and Goofy have her focused on defense and magic until she builds up enough muscle for actual fighting. In the corner of his eye, Sora sees Riku turn to face him. “It might help if you were around. I think she’s getting discouraged, with how quickly she tires out.”

Sora frowns at the ground. “She shouldn’t be. She already knows it takes time to develop. I only knew how to use the Keyblade because I sparred with you.” It’s a good memory, even if at the time it had earned him bruises and a couple of scars. Those had nearly faded, only visible if you knew they were there. “So, thanks.”

Riku laughs. “Thanks for kicking your ass with a stick?”

The Keyblade appears in Sora’s hand in a flash of light, and he wags it at Riku. The Spirits stir and scan the area for enemies, before settling down again when they realize it’s safe. The Yoggy Ram seems a bit irked that its nap had been disturbed.

“You better take that back,” he threatens, prodding Riku with the key.

Riku only pushes the blade aside. “Need me to prove I can do it again?”

“I’m not gonna believe it til I see it!”

They exchange grins—Sora’s wide and toothy, Riku’s more of a smirk.

“We should spar again,” Riku says. He looks happy to say it. “Mickey’s the only one aside from you that would actually pose a challenge. And, that’s a little weird to be honest.”

Sora’s not sure what fighting with Mickey would be like. He’s smaller, lighter, and is able to launch himself into the air in ways that reminds he can only achieve with a Drive. But for all the agility Mickey’s stature gives him, the same advantage isn’t present when taking a hit. It would be fun, though, to fight with Riku again. The thought makes him feel light inside.

“Plus, it would help Lea and Kairi to see how to wield a keyblade.”

And like that, the vision collapses. He slumps back but tries to keep his voice lofty. “Yeah. We can do that sometime.”

Riku gives him a look, and is quiet for a long moment. The sound of the fountain is all he can hear, as its lights bathe the plaza in green that slowly melts into blue. Then, “You and Kairi haven’t been talking much.”

Sora’s hand wanders to his pocket, where he’d kept her seashell charm for the months since they’d left the Islands again. It’s empty now. “Not… really.” He cranes his head up. The stars that he’s come to recognize as other worlds are dimmed by the lights of the city.

“It’s just.” He lets his key vanish but his hands remain curled in fists.. “I always thought that no matter what, I’d be able to come back home and Kairi would be waiting there, and things would just be like they always were. We used to talk all the time. Remember that? We would spend hours imagining what other worlds there could be, and now we know and… Kairi doesn’t.” He looks up, meeting Riku’s eyes at last. “I’ve left so many people in their worlds, and when I come back they’re always there. It’s not like this, all weird and distant. It's like I can’t talk to her anymore. Why is it so easy with everybody else but not with Kairi?”

Riku’s expression barely changes. His eyebrows scrunch, his lips thin. Sora’s known him long enough to recognize that. Confusion. Sadness. He might as well have stabbed Sora with his Keyblade for how much that hurt.

“It’s been over two years, Sora. That’s a long time to go without seeing someone. People change.”

“But, we’re still friends!” Sora gestures between the two of them, looking at Riku imploringly. “And we’ve changed. A lot. Last time I saw you, we were fighting.” His breath gets short. He still remembers the jarring pain every time Riku’s blade clashed into his. “And the time before that, I could barely match you in a race. But we’re still close. Closer than before, even. But I’m not with Kairi.”

His voice dwindles. His ears feel hot.

“I thought you—” Riku pauses, like he’s unsure if he wants to keep speaking. “Liked her. Loved her?”

And Sora freezes up, because Riku’s eyes are on him and words are stuck in his throat.

“I… did.” He looks away.

“And I still do. But. It’s different. I love her in the way I love Donald and Goofy and…”

“Me?”

Sora sits up, head swinging around to meet Riku’s gaze. His eyes are wide. There’s something vulnerable in Riku’s expression. He’s been like that since they first defeated Ansem, the Heartless—Nobody?—Ansem. It’s been difficult to keep everything straight. Light is supposed to be good and Dark is supposed to be evil but neither is true, and Ansem was the enemy, a Heartless or a Nobody that didn’t actually come from Ansem the Wise, and Kairi was supposed to be his constant and his childhood crush, and Riku was supposed to be his rival and his best friend, but his chest felt tight when they were alone together and Sora couldn’t even keep his own feelings sorted out.  
When he thought he’d lost Riku, not to darkness or to evil, but for good, and he’d scoured the worlds desperate for any sign of him—he’d realized then.

His mouth moves before he can stop himself. “No,” he says.

Riku’s placid countenance shatters. He recoils as though Sora had struck him.

“No!” Sora shouts it this time, reaching for Riku. His hands land on his friend’s knees, and the Meow Wow is hobbling off, not seeming to mind being thrown from its bed, and Riku is staring at him with something close to fear.

“Not like them,” Sora breathes. “It’s not the same.”

Riku eases, just slightly. His wariness was still there, but it was coupled with a willingness to listen.

“Then what is it?” Soft, guarded.

His lips are parted. Chapped, from the Tower’s wind.

Sora leans in. He’s pressing his weight down where his hands are braced on Riku’s knees, and he waits, letting him pull away. Riku stays still, and when Sora’s eyes flick upwards he finds Riku’s half-lidded.

The kiss is placed on the corner of his lips. He feels the slight catch of chapped skin, the shallow inhale.

He plans to pull back but sags against Riku instead. “Everything’s changing,” he murmurs.

“Yeah.” Riku’s arms drape around his waist. “Is that bad, to you?”

Sora presses himself a little closer, nudges his face against Riku’s shoulder, and breathes out. “Not always.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've decided to stick all my tumblr fics up on Ao3 after all this time. This one was written last year.


End file.
